 So welcome to anyone who's in the attendees room. This is the meeting of the Amherst Cultural Council. And I want to thank everybody who is here in attendance for all their hard work. And Matt and Julienne, I'm going to make Julienne the host. Thank you. And I hope everyone has a great meeting. Keep up the great work. Thanks so much. OK, so I will read the statement to begin with pursuant to chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021. This meeting will be conducted via remote means. Members of the public who wish to access the meeting may also do so in the following manner, which would be via Zoom or via the recording afterwards. No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted. But every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time via technological means. In the event that we are unable to do so for reasons of economic hardship and despite best efforts, we will post them on the amherstma.gov website of an audio or video recording transcript or other comprehensive record of the proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting. Now I'll go ahead and I'll do the roll call. So starting with Cody, who it must be funny, Cody. Can you hear us? Can we hear you? You're muted. Yes, I'm here. Thank you. Leah. I'm here. Thank you. Rachel. Here. Matt. Here. Eleanor. Here. Robin. Here. Excellent. Very good. So glad everyone can make it. Robin's feeling better. Your play's going well, Eleanor. Great. So we are not quite halfway through the initial discussions of the 2023 grant cycle. Rachel, are you up for timekeeping again tonight? Sure. Are we still doing seven minutes? Just out of fairness? I think out of fairness, we are. But to the extent that we can move on, we really do need to push on or we will be adding additional meetings past the 14th because we are roughly halfway through at this point. So with that, if no one has any other topics, we will go ahead and get started. OK, I'm ready on time. You're what? As I'm ready to time when you are. OK. And I keep thinking about this. I'm going to apologize up front about reading briskly through the summary of each grant. We've all read them. You don't need me to read it to you. But I think we do need to try to quickly recap the summary so that we're all on the same page. So let's see. We are starting with I just, sorry. I'm going to have dogs barking here and there. I apologize. We are starting with Pamela Means. And she is applying for Pamela Means presents the power of the protest song, Our Shared History and Present Day. It's a musical March 14, 2023 at the Jones Library. And she is asking for $950 and expects it to serve about 100 people. Overall, we rank this as a 2.57. And as far as comments, one person said it's a large stipend, but 500 is for the American Sign Language, I believe. So here's the overview. My program is an intergenerational community event titled Power of the Protest Song, Our Shared History and Present Day Struggles. It's equal parts performance and presentation. It's family friendly. It's a public event. And we'll explore the origins and lineage as of protest songs and how their significance resonates across time and space. Throughout my presentation, Pamela will elucidate how the music has underpinned and inspired struggles for racial, gender, economic, justice, and also share her own trajectory as an artist who became committed to using her voice for political change. They will call the audience in to experience the collective and joyful mobilization through music by interweaving performances of original protest songs and recognizable sing-along covers. So I will start with, is there anyone who champions fully funding this? Are you trying to unmute? I will. Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to champion fully funding this? Eleanor. I will also. Is there anyone who has reservations about fully funding this? Yes, Robin. My only reservation is that similar grantees were more looking at 750. So that's my only thing about being a little bit more consistent. But I think it's a great program. And if she is going to have ASL summits, that would be awesome. That's half the budget. So I certainly support, definitely supporting. So funding available, would you fully support fully funding it? Funding available? Probably. Just, we're not really consistent, but we're not. So. Yeah, I mean, I think this is important. It's both music, but history, and also social justice. And she's great, so. Oh, that helps, too. Anyone have any further comments? I agree with Robin, what Robin has said. So I have some reservations about fully funding it. But it's, you know, it's, if we have plenty of money, otherwise I would be in the 750 range. Yeah, so just looking at the budget, salaries fees, I guess Pamela's fee here is $850. There's $200 for sound engineering crews and something. They're doing about $200 worth of marketing. And they need to do an equipment purchase, which they have 100 towards that, and the interpreter for sign language. So they have applied to many other cultural councils for funding. And they said if full funding is not possible, they'd consider lowering, she'd consider lowering her rate, not hiring a crew member and reducing the number of printed materials or refraining from providing the sign language interpreter. So, you know, I think it's fair if we want to look ahead to trying to be realistic, to bump the number down to, you know, something like I'd feel good about covering all the sign language interpretation and maybe, you know, $250 towards her stipend or something, but we don't really get to say how it's used in the end. Is there anyone who feels strongly about going with a number less than $750 or more or different? Are we all good? Great. OK, moving to the next. The next one is, I'm getting a strange echo. I think, Robin, you might not be muted. Would you mind muting unless you're talking? Or it could be, yeah, I think it's, thank you. So the next one is Sophie Michaud with the Tiny Glass Tavern Concert and Singing Workshop. It's for January of 2023. It's in Conway in Haydenville. They're asking for $300. Collectively, we scored this as a 2.07, so a two. They expect it to serve about 150 people. So comments about this were that it's in Conway and Haydenville and no mention of Amherst but it's a reasonable ask. Someone else said that it's very far away. So this is the Tiny Glass Tavern, which was founded by Conway residents Sophie Michaud and Adam Simon, request support for a concert and workshop, Western Mass January. And after testing for COVID-19, the ensemble will spend a week in residence in Conway culminating in a concert in Haydenville. They'll offered mass singing workshop in Conway, exploring choral and early folk music by composers such as Monteverdi and Adam Simon. With their new ensemble, they will have a significant following Western Mass and they've performed concert series like Watermelon Wednesday at venues like West Comington Congregational Church, APE Gallery, Anchor House of Artists and they're seeking financial assistance for travel expenses, teaching supplies, recording fees and to pay for four teaching artists. So I'll add on just right away that they, we can't support travel expenses but we are a small part of their budget. So is there anyone who'd like to champion this particular grant? Is there, yes, Robin? I think we, I'd like to support it and they small, I mean, it's such a small ask but 100 or 150 because I think there might be people from here who would go there and just as a, and I think it looks great, it's just it's in Conway in winter. Yeah, when I look at the numbers of 150 served and that it's in Conway, when I think of how many people will be served in Amherst, it's, there are some concerns about just general public benefit that it will reach our community. It's possible but anyone else have to add? Yeah, I noticed they had applied to multiple LCCs and I think for the same reasons, for the reasons that you all have cited already, I would support like maybe half of what they're asking for, about 150. That seems like we're providing support within the. Yeah, I might be okay with 100 considering that it's more music, it's more choral music and it's a small group and it's out of town. I am aware that when folks from Amherst who are doing events in Amherst apply to other LCCs, sometimes they don't get anything, sometimes they do, but I think we probably give more regionally than most. I would be okay with 100 as well. Okay, let's go ahead and pencil that in. Any other comments? If not, I will move on, okay. Next one is, this is Taylor Mickens and this is for the Taylor Rose Mickens Live and Recorded Concert, April 29th, 2023 at Drake. They are asking for their entire budget, 1,750 and expect to serve about 500 people. Collectively, we scored this at a 2.14. And one of the questions, there were a few questions before I read the description was somebody wanted to know why they were applying to Cambridge and if they had the Drake confirmed, someone else said it's free and at the Drake makes this location available to community that might not be able to attend other events but it is a rather large ask. So description, the grantee and their colleagues are planning to have a live concert and it will be professionally recorded and it will have their band's new original indie folk and jazz music as part of our music tour across Massachusetts concert at the Drake. The pandemic still makes it impossible for some to be able to see live music in person. This will allow people to experience music for free both live and from the comfort of their homes. We want to make quality musical experience accessible to anyone to enjoy without making people feel like they have to choose between safety and music experience and it will be an opportunity for the band to perform in our community in Western Massachusetts after a long pause because of the pandemic and it will make space for people to experience new and exciting music for free. I'm going to lead with this one in that I think it's great that they're having it recorded but I'm kind of curious as to what they're going to do with their recording thereafter. Is this something that would get turned into some sort of an album that they sell and promote elsewhere and that's an actual economic opportunity. Just kind of wonder what exactly we would be funding and to the one person's point I guess we really do need to know if the Drake is secured. So is there anyone who would like to champion this particular grant? I have a feeling that Eleanor has some questions. I just am not ready to champion and I think you have there are some very valid questions raised for more stuff. Yeah, so just hopping into the budget, it's $550 to pay the band. There's 200 in social media advertisement and flyers. Supplies materials, $100 for merchandise production. That one, I don't know what merchandise production is but it sounds like maybe packaging this and up into something. And another hundred for photography and promotion and then 800 for the video and audio recording. It strikes me a bit as this is a band producing promotional materials. I'm opening up the letter that was in here. Sorry, you're in and out, Cody. The internet's breaking up. I just feel, I just use that. What's the band doing? I'm sorry, Cody, we're not getting your audio. The internet is breaking it up. Is everyone else having a problem? Okay, it's not my internet. So we don't have chat turned on because of a situation we had happened in the past but if you wanna email me real quick then I can read what you're saying. And I'm looking at the letter that's provided here and it's a letter from the applicant saying they're working on getting documentation for the live and recorded concert at the Drake. When we get documentation confirming our date for our tour show, we will send it to the cultural council as soon as possible. So I don't recall receiving anything, Matt, if you're able to... No, we don't, we've never got anything from them. I was looking out for that. I think this is, I have no problems with this other than the venue not being confirmed and I was going to ask for the Cambridge question as well. So those two things both give me pause, especially the direct grant model. Yeah, and we don't have, I don't think there's a letter of support from the Drake. So we don't have a date. We don't have them saying, you know, that they're living a space in kind and they're asking for the full budget and they're also trying to have a $20 suggested donation. Wait, let me make sure I'm in the right grant. Sorry. Let me go back. It kind of run together at a certain point. Yeah. Sorry. And Cody, are you going to send me your comment? You're a little frozen there. We're running out of time. Yep, yeah. In the interest of time, is there anyone who, I think it doesn't meet our guidelines, sadly. Is there anyone else who also was in that? I was in that chair. Yeah. It says the cost is zero. But they don't have a date and they don't have a better confirmation from the Drake. They don't have a date, but we don't know that that's confirmed. So it is unclear. Exactly what? Yeah, so the date in the grantee model, as Matt was saying, and then further, is this really for the benefit of Amherst? I mean, I think Amherst residents, should it happen would benefit, certainly, but or is it really creating promotional materials to launch a band or promote them? So unless someone feels strongly, I'm going to put this at zero for now, but we should come back to it. Is there anyone feel strongly about putting more than that down? Okay, moving on, thank you. The next, I'm getting that strange echo again. I'm not sure who that's coming from. Thank you. So the next one is Mohawk Trail Concert Summer Festival 2023. It happens between June 17th and July 22nd, 2023, and it will be in Montague, Shelburne Falls, and Charlemont. They're asking for $500 and expect to serve about 750 people. Overall, our rating for this was a 1.5, and one person said, it's a good program, but it's more chamber music. Another person said, local public benefit, questioning that, another person said location, someone said far away. So I think the issue here is, certainly will folks from Amherst participate and also that it is more classical music. So there will be nine concerts of chamber music and three different venues. And that's it, let me make sure there's nothing more here. Yep, it's really quite a brief summary. So just nine chamber music concerts. So is there anyone who'd like to champion this grant? Julian? Yes. So I was, I think the one who said more chamber music, but I wanna just make one comment about the distance and the location. We did explicitly revise our guidelines this year to encourage regional efforts. And I'm not saying that this is the slam dunk grant of the year in terms of that, but I do think that I'm reluctant to zero out grants that are not super, super close to us. If it's benefiting the larger valley, Western mess area and accessible to Amherst residents and particularly folks who apply for multiple cultural councils. So I'm in favor of funding this on the low end, but I wouldn't deny it based on public benefit just because of our regional emphasis. And I'm kind of making that point relative to some of the other grants that we've seen and we'll see as well, just to bear that in mind. Yeah, and I fully agree. And I actually think that especially in the summer people do like to get out of Amherst and go up to, you know, Charlemagne or Montague and some of these other places. So as far as I'm looking for their, what they're saying as far as public benefit. So they are mentioning they're well publicized the local community, it's live music, connecting people. I wish they had said something specific to people from Amherst. They do note that some of the musicians, one's a retired professor from UMass. Another is concert master of Springfield Symphony Orchestra. So yeah, I think this really probably comes down to, you know, something in support, but something that also reflects we have a lot of music and the number of Amherst-based people that would likely participate. Any other comments? I think, can you? Yes. And I am still cutting out. Yes. But it seems to be a little better. Yeah. You're cutting out, Cody. I'm so sorry. We're not getting the message. I'm sorry. We need to figure this out. Yes, Robin, you're muted. I was just scratching. Oh, okay. Do you think that this is a program that is worth supporting? Okay. They're asking for 500s. Are we talking about like 100, 150, 200, 150, literally in the neighborhood? I think at least half. Half. 150, 300, at least just to show our support for this valley-wide program. That's been going on for a long time and is an excellent program. I think I would have said 200, but I am amenable to. I mean, I think the 200 is probably more realistic just because in the back of our minds, I think we're all pretty clear that we're going to have to come back and adjust for music and classical music in particular. So we can, I mean, they're not final. So it could be bumped up or down. So I'm going to put 200 and that's a nice amount of support. And another thing is they are recommending $20 is the recommended donation. So they have the opportunity to have this for free, but also to bring in quite a bit of funding. Any other comments? How are we doing for time, Rachel? On this one, we have 50 seconds left. All right, okay. So next, Jason Montgomery, this is applying for the ABP Text Poem Project 2023. It's an ongoing project, so it has new date. It's both virtual and occurring at 50 Arrow Gallery. And they're requesting the full budget from us $1,200 and expected to serve 1,000 people. Collectively, we scored this pretty low, 1.6. So comments here were, before I get into it, $1,200 budget is divided by four area councils, so maybe 300. Another person said poetry on demand or is this a commercial venture? Someone else said it's a novel and modern approach to poetry, but I'm confused at the same time. Someone else said it's happening in East Hampton. So these are East Hampton, this is East Hampton Poet Laureate Jason R. Montgomery, along with Alex Wulner, also Poet Laureate. And they are entering the final months in this role as Laureates, ending in April. And in recognition of this work, are planning both an event at 50 Arrow Gallery to recognize this change with a chapbook publication of pieces from the Text Poem Project. This will generate continued support from attack bear press poetry projects and going forward and beyond at the end date Poet Laureates program, but most specifically the Text Poem Project. The Text Poem Project was started as part of East Hampton City Art Poets Laureate Program in which you can request an original poem via text, try it. There's a number, I don't know if anybody's gone and done this, I'll have to do this tonight, to receive an original poem. They've received a high number of requests for original poems since its inception. So before we get into this, I'm a little confusing as far as specifically, I wanna look at the budgeting and what exactly they're asking to budget. So it's 500 for the chapbooks, $200 stipend to an artist, 300 for admin costs, and 200 to cover, defray a portion of phone costs. So is there anyone who would like to champion this grant? I guess I don't wanna champion it in full, but I really love it. I think it's a really unique idea. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think I'd pay that full amount there, but I just would definitely encourage us to support it. Yeah, I'm a little confused why they didn't focus on the event and give us the date for the event, because that would kind of make this a little bit clearer. We don't get a lot of poetry events or grant applications, though. What would I do you now, you? You would try to do a small amount or the full amount. I would defray the event. I would defray the event. I would defray the event. I would definitely do partial. Partial. Julie, and I'm sorry, I dropped out for a minute. I was the one who commented about sort of if they applied to the four area councils, that it would make sense for us to fund them at a fourth of the ask. And I'm sorry, I apologize if I missed that part of the conversation, but that's my suggestion. That seems sensible to me, certainly. Is there anyone who feels quite differently than that? I mean, it is in the area, you know, but... And it's a large ongoing. Do we feel that we have enough? I mean, it's ongoing without having a date. I guess it's also virtual. I'm gonna go with it. I think we have enough since it's ongoing and it's already happened. So we're all, are you muted, Eleanor? Sorry, no, just nodding. Okay, so everyone's pretty comfortable with 300 if we end up having the funding for that. Okay, thank you. Okay, so the next grant is Marilyn Morales. And this is always remember showcase from the world premiere. It's opera slash musical. And it's scheduled to happen sometime between March 1st and December 31st of next year. It would be a virtual event and on local cable. She's asking for $850 to serve 1,000 people. And according to our compiled numbers, this was less than one. So questions on this one. One person said we declined this last year. I recall declining it last year. So not a whole lot of comments, but clearly it wasn't strongly supported when we scored it. So the artist is saying they won't be able to reach as many communities with live performances. There's an echo if everyone could check about muting. They would like to offer a stunning virtual showcase to your community this season. So I guess rather than read through all of this, basically this is an artist who'd like to coordinate doing a broadcast with our local cable station and make it available to our community and that it would take place up to one year after the first show in 2023. They've had positive results from similar presentations in 2021 and 2022. The artist, Marilyn Morales Liberado Music and the orchestrations by Kirk Whipple, they've premiered audiences in Miami in November and they wanna show this stage, show this on stages in Massachusetts when they can gain commitments and support. Meanwhile, they're doing video with selections from the premier, including artist interviews, all will license this entertaining and educational show for broadcast only to participating communities. So it sounds to me like this is either in the works or mostly made, but they're just trying to have us pay them if we wanted to come to I guess Amherst media. So like the one person said, we did decline this last year as opposed to championing this, I'm going to suggest that we decline it again. Is there anyone who would like to speak to taking a different approach? I would not, but I did wanna give context for the newer members that we do every year, it seems like have a handful of applicants who basically just sort of make a pitch to do their performance or their art at as many communities as they have time to make the application into. And it's, I just, I wanna say that these are probably pretty decent performances and these people come in with good credentials and we tend to decline, I don't wanna say outright, but more often than not, we decline just because we're not really supporting local artists, local cultural institutions, local folks. But that being said, I could imagine a year when we thought, geez, we've got 19 chamber orchestra pieces and no poetry, and somebody, some national poet came through with something and we said, yeah, our community could benefit from that. I do not think that's the case here, but it's just an interesting sort of, I don't know, situation for us to be considering. But I'm with you, Julie, and I also think that this is not something that we need to prioritize or fund this year. Yeah, thank you for your context there. I mean, it kinda comes across as like a pay-to-play type thing and like you said, it could be really great, but I think we're really trying to do a lot more in-person and when they want to come to Amherst and whatnot, it'd be more compelling. So are we all in agreement that this does not meet, make enough public benefit for Amherst? Yeah, thank you. Okay, so next we have multi-arts ink and their event is the Monarch Butterfly Art and Workshop, Art Workshop and Exhibitions. It's visual art. It would be in April at both Amherst High School and Amherst College. They're asking for $850 to serve about 500 people and our overall scoring of this was 2.57. So pretty solid score. There was a question in the budget about designating funds for supplies, which I believe that is permitted and someone else said something about, well, there's a suggested donation. So this is specifically for children ages four to 12 to have them do workshops to create artwork inspired by the Monarch Butterfly and the artwork from the workshops will be on exhibition during the concert by the Valley Winds Ensemble at their April concert at Amherst College and in Hadley at the US Fish and Wildlife Department Services building during the month of May. So with that, I will turn it over to if there's someone who'd like to champion this grant. Was this connected to another grant this year? It is. It provides artwork to be viewed during the Valley Winds Ensemble. Right, right, right, right. And that'll be at Amherst College. But these would be separate. They're separate grants. Yeah, and we can consider them separately. But it brings, I think it's nice in that it brings a visual art component to a musical concert and extends the audience who gets to see the artwork that's created. That's both science and art. So I think from a community benefit point of view, the way they're setting this up is pretty smart. I would champion this. I really like it. Yeah. Robin. I think I've lost Cody. It's also art that they're participating in. Robin, did you have a comment? I agree. I would totally support this. And Cody, we're trying to, you're on mute again. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. I'm, oh, now we've lost video. Champion this. I can't, it's still breaking up, Cody. I'm so sorry. I guess, unless there are other comments I'll put in for the whole amount and hope that we're able to do that. So everyone in line with that, any other comments? That sounds good. Great. I'm so sorry, Cody. I don't know what's happening today. Okay, so next we have music dance.edu, hip hop chair dance for seniors. This is a dance program that was on, I've got to echo again, honor after black history month. It would be at the arbors and the center for extended care. They are asking for $600 to serve 100 folks. Comments here were supporting materials that we hadn't received them. And another person said it's a large ask and they're missing confirmation details again, I guess because we've had applications from this group before. So the event is a hip hop chair dance for seniors. It's about an hour long class. Elders do chair dance warm up and hip hop class that begins and ends and chairs travel through time on the soul train and chair dance to clean cut hip hop and RB songs. They use creative props such as smiley faces, African maracas and help make the soul train journey come to life. The senior participants leave feeling more younger all on board the hip hop soul train express. So Matt, do you have any additional materials? I don't think we did. We did actually. She sent me confirmation and I told her to attach it to her application online and I never heard that from her. I'm sorry, is that for the prior grant year or? She sent me the confirmation and this is also... Oh, okay. I seem to have two, let me shut that down. She sent, it's also for two programs and it's for the people in this rehab center to dance and have people there and I can go into what it's like to be in rehab and to have something like this come in can keep you going literally in every way but she did send confirmation and I never heard that from her when I said attach it and if there's a problem, let me know. So she does have confirmation for it and she's done it several years in a row. So she's very responsible. Okay, so we feel solid that while we don't have the confirmation did include a date or you don't have it, I'm a little confused. I have to look for it, but yeah, no, it did. She had confirmation of the whole thing too. Okay, sorry. Julian, I'm sorry to interrupt. Yeah. Sorry to interrupt. So Ronde emailed me, excuse me one second. Ronde emailed us, Julian, you as well, and said, firm could, it's kind of hard to follow this. She said, I mailed the community partnership agreements to your Amherst LCC office. Okay, so Robin, that's what you're saying. You've got that from the library. Okay. Okay. Thank you. And early on, and I said, you need to attach it and then I never heard back from her. I said, this problem is let me know, but she didn't so, but she does have confirmation of it. Thank you. And it's two workshops. Okay, so it'd be roughly 300 to work out. It's pretty low. Okay, so do we support fully funding this if the funds are available? I do. Any other comments? I would support that. Any other comments? Moving on. We will try to do it. Okay, next we have music on main concerts I've got that echo again. I think, let's see if it stops. Okay. Music on main concerts at First Church, together we sing a multicultural concert May 7th, 2023. This is the first congregational church in Amherst. They are asking for $1,000 and expected to serve about 150 people. Collectively, we scored this at a 2.07, so solid. One person said it's a large ask, but a unique event and may need to adjust for music total. So this is a combined concert between McKayla, I hope I said that right, the Jewish chorus of Western Mass and the First Church Choir, the first congregational church in Amherst. Each group will sing several pieces and combine to sing several choruses from Elijah by Felix Mendelssohn and a couple of other selections. The pieces will be in a variety of styles, so sacred, secular, gospel, spiritual, Hebrew, and the combined chorus total about 50 will be accompanied by piano. Following the concert, there will be a reception giving musicians and audience members an opportunity to interact. I am going to, well, I ask if anybody wants to champion this, go to the budget, because we are not able to provide funding for food, that'd be the one thing, but it's certainly not the whole budget that they're asking for. So is there someone who'd like to champion this event? Yes, Robin. I'd like to champion it, I think it's important. And it's here in Amherst. It's here in Amherst, it's... Multicultural. Multicultural, multi-religion. We need to be less segmented. I think more than 150 people will come, so I think it's pretty important, but isn't just looking at this food. Yeah, well, they're not asking us for the whole thing, so yeah. I like the, whatever the full budget or as much as we can do towards it. I agree, I like the Multicultural, and I was glad it was the Jewish chorus. Looks great overall, I think. Yeah, as much as we can do. Okay. I'd like to support it in full. We don't have any conflict with the food afterwards. That's not included. I think they've included paper goods, but that's not food. So I am a little concerned about just it being such a large number, but it's here and it's in Amherst, and if we could, we would want to. Anyone have any other comments? So I'll put down the full thousand. We'll hope that we can make that happen. Julianne, I would only say a very high partial just to give ourselves a little bit of wiggle room because this is another choral, I mean, it's a consequence of another choral piece and just so we're, because sometimes when we're in the final voting meeting and we're running short on time, we sometimes we just say, full fund, full fund, full fund, and I would want to just maybe hold a little bit of flexibility on this one because it's another choral piece. So does 800 feel about right, or is it more like a 750? Oh, yeah, I mean, either one's fine. 900 is fine. I just want to give us a little bit of wiggle room in case we needed to balance the budget. Let's put it to the 900 and we'll have to see. All right, any other comments? Next up. So then we have a Susanna Musprott. This is a self-guided walking tour of staying glass in the town center. It would be starting in spring 2023 and following. She's asking for $2,700 and plans to benefit 500 people. Overall, we scored this as a 2.64, so it was strong and supported. The comments were, it's a large ask and wondering if it could be more inclusive or maybe there are accessibility issues with the walking tour, I'm not sure. Another person said, great synergy with the cultural district project. Someone else said something about potential model for accessibility and another person said the website should be accessible. So okay, let's go back and this is developed as a self-guided walking tour of significant staying glass in Amherstown center. Stops includes European 16th century, 17th century glass in the, my eyes are given out here. Rother was room at the Meade Art Museum, Windows and Grace Church, which are newly recognized as the work of the father of American stained glass William Gibson from 1865 by Clayton and Bell in London and Tiffany Studios, Angel of Lilies at the Unitarian Meeting House, which are from the 1880s and a religious scenes by Franz Mayer Studios at St. Bridget's Church from 1925. Also there's a contemporary window in the town hall that was created with, it's part of the Amherst Cultural Council from 2003. The tour will also highlight examples of medieval rival architecture from 19th to 20th centuries in town center and a website with multiple images, videos and information on fabrication. And the preservation will supplement a rack hard mapping locations. Sorry, I think I mangled the description, but to sum up, I think it sounds like a fantastic resource that would be ongoing for people coming to visit Amherst as a destination along with folks that live here that connects us to, you know, stained glass as an art form. So my only reservation is it's a really large ask, but I think it's really important work. Is there anyone who'd like to champion this grant? Yes, Rachel. Yeah, I would like to fully fund it if we can because it is actually creating something for the long term. Now you're hearing an echo from me, aren't you? Yes. I only have one device on, so I don't know if it's a microphone or do you have two devices on? I only have two devices on. If somebody has two devices on it. Robin, I have the suspicion, sorry to point a finger, but I think it's your device. I'm sorry. You should do it. Yeah, so for the, I think because it does, it would create a long term resource that's available for locals as well as tourists, as you said. And I think the other, I was gonna ask you if I know that we're evaluating applications based on the emerit, but in something like this, because it's very much focusing on what is here in the town of Amherst and the artworks and everything else, can we as a council as part of the grant request that they not only consider accessibility measures, but also something that is a broader acknowledgement of this place as a whole, the history of this place, of where it's all located as a whole. So I don't know if that's something that, do you see what I'm saying? You don't. Actually, I don't see what you're saying is hurt. So accessibility is maybe, I think I need to read back through it, but I think we generally have to kind of take the grants as they come in without putting stipulations on top. So what are you trying to stipulate specifically? I was thinking in terms, I mean, the accessibility is definitely something that, I think we want to encourage if that's not already built in. And the other thing I was, to just put it very, very frankly, is I think the land acknowledgement issue. And I'm not saying that, I'm not trying to make an issue with this particular application, but I just think that that was something I thought would be appropriate for us to raise as a council or to consider as a council that it could be a criterion for other applications going forward. So- The land acknowledgement? Well, because it's talking about Amherst, things that are in Amherst, that are located in Amherst, and it feels like if you're gonna talk about the history, maybe there needs to be a broader kind of context. So other things are kind of performances and whatever else. So I think because it's so much related to the place and where things are located. So I'm saying that I'm not gonna deny them full funding because they don't have it, but I just thought this is an opportunity to raise this question for us to consider for future guidelines, if that makes sense. For future guidelines, yes, that's something that we could put in the guidelines, but as far as this particular grant application, yeah, we can't really- That's fine, that's fine. I still support funding it fully. Yeah. I would support fully it, funding it fully if we truly have the funds. Yes, Robin. I shut down my other device and I'm still hearing the noise. So I'm not sure what it is. I think this is something Amherst should have. I mean, I think this is Amherst and we have this great history of staying glass and all that it means. But I also think this is probably half of what it's gonna cost to produce this, if not more. And she says, an expert student researcher, but she doesn't say who or how many hours as a professional researcher, I don't think that's gonna be enough at all. Has she arranged with the bid to have the cards and where she says she's gonna have them? I'm pretty sure she has, because the bid is in support of this. Also, I also don't see it happening within her time. I feel like this is like the first half development budget and then there should be, she needs another grant to actually put it forward. It feels to me like it's half of what's gonna be needed to produce. Sorry to interrupt and I don't have these to look at, it did mention that 10 pages of supplemental materials would be needed at your council. Because I can't get that stuff open. So that's something I think it looks like a lot of, there was a lot of people gonna be donating services in time too. Yeah. And that's why the cost is what it is. I mean, as reported. Sorry, we're running out of time on this one, but I spoke for maybe too long. I mean, I think this is something Amherst should have. Yeah, I hope. Julian, I can just speak to the supplemental materials and the agreement with the bid and the cultural district. I happen to know the cultural district has committed the funds to putting this together. So I really do think this is a high feasibility. I mean, we could always ask any of our projects if they're actually gonna be able to come across. But I do think this one has a lot of feasibility, a lot of good partnerships and some really brilliant voices engage with it. So I support your position of as close to full as possible. Again, I would caution us to just maybe say like a, very high partial because it is a large ask and we'll see where we're at. But I think it's a fabulous project. I think based on what you're saying, there'd be a lot of push from the community behind it to make this happen. So, and since we're at time, I've put in a number for a high partial and we will move on. Exciting, I'm looking forward to it. The next one is the native plant trust. This is plant communities in Massachusetts. They're, something is wrong with my spreadsheet because I don't have the date correctly. I have to look at that. It would be at the Jones library and they're asking for $700 for it. This one we scored collectively at a 1.2. So there was no questions about supporting it. Someone asked, I don't know if everyone's muted. I've got that echo again. Is everyone muted? So questions were, do plant lectures fall within our mission? Another person said it's a single talk, no local partners. Someone said it's really cool, but it's not arts focused enough and someone else said science, we don't have that many science applications. It's not a huge ask and it's in immersed and somebody else just said the word science. So before getting into this, actually, yeah, things that are science and nature related can be certainly can be considered. And we don't have a lot of applications like that. So this is Native Plant Trust. It's the nation's first and only plant conservation organization and they're focused solely on New England's native plants and they propose to offer plant conservation lectures at the Jones library. It would provide an overview of the extraordinary diversity of native plant communities in the state with examples of the plants and environmental features. The goal is to raise awareness and appreciation of the area's habitats, educate about plant communities, current status and encourage ways to conserve local natural resources. This program was piloted in 2019 with five towns throughout the state and has continued to run across Massachusetts through 2022. The program in Amherst will be part of a larger statewide initiative called the Plant Conservation Lecture Series. So as far as again, questioning about science, I'd go back to, we had a delightful conversation about a group in Hadley that wants to promote composting, promoting knowing what your native species are and using them. I don't know if I would support champion fully funding this, but I would champion this as something as meaningful and part of the larger state project. I think it's important and it's a different kind of program. So it adds something different for the community. Other comments? Yes. Well, 100 of the 700 is for travel. So what they're really asking us for is 600. True. Thank you for checking that. Yes, we can't do terrible. I fully support this. And science is definitely part of culture. And we don't have a lot of science. I guess as a science geek, I really support science, but I think it hits most everything we want and I end with a lot of other things. We are supporting. Is there anyone who could comment about plant lectures that wants to comment about what they were thinking about as a counterpoint? I really agree with the science component too. I think that we should promote that. And Robin, you have the application open there right there. I just, I think I had a reservation about this because I wasn't sure if they had any local partners or were they just gonna go to Jones Library and use it as a venue. So that's, I don't know if that makes a difference to us in terms of granting the money if we're just gonna fund a lecture that's gonna take place at Amherst in which case it benefits our community. But I just wasn't sure whether there was like kind of an intentional effort to work with local partners since we're talking about native plants. So what are here like I'm working with? So that was just a no ad put on. I don't have the application. I've got the application open and they have applied to many other cultural councils but it's a little bit difficult reading that to understand specifically. I think it's a larger thing, right? So I don't quite understand the full scope. Are they applying to those councils for what they're doing here or how they're separating that out? I took it as they were applying to different councils like something Matt said earlier, like, okay, if they can get the money from this council they'll go do a talk there. And if they get it from, that was the impression I got. But I think my reservation came from whether or not they had kind of solicited local partners in the respective communities. And that was what gave me a little bit of pause. But in theory, I think this is a great thing to support. Yeah, my reading of it was in this case was actually quite the opposite that it wasn't just asking all the different councils but it seems like I would need a map, right? Here are these councils, and I'm doing the native cheese in this region of the Commonwealth and they're all included in that area of the map versus, you know, you get out to Cape Cod and the councils they're applying to over there. I don't know if there is one from Cape Cod, but yeah, there's stuff all over but I think they're doing multiple regions and handling them separately for the native species. So, to your point, you know, does we have support from the Jones Library? And did it have a date? Move it back. They do. No, this was the one where the date was coming in the next. 2023, Jones Library. Rachel, I had some of the same questions of what this really is. And I can't get the additional information open. And I guess that a fact against maybe funding it fully is the, sorry, it's one talk for 30 people. No, that's based on the numbers. Sorry, say that it's one part of it. It's just a single talk and they're expected to reach 30 people based on what they put in their application. So that was something I put as, you know, questionable in terms of funding it fully. Yeah, I'm coming a little bit full circle that if they don't have a date and a letter of commitment from the Jones Library, then it potentially doesn't meet our guidelines. But, you know, I'd like to be able to support it. They do have additional material. I just can't get it open. I know I've had, but you probably could. I have it open and it's like a tax, it's a form 990 taxes. I'm not sure why that's attached. I'll do it so that it's a real organization. We're at time. Yeah. Thank you. Okay, well, it seems like we have a lot of questions on that one. Okay. We're going to see how many more of these can get done. And then for the last 10 minutes, we want to, since we have a pretty full house and I talk about some of the opportunities we had with the cultural history. So next one, North Campus Center for the Arts. This is for their 2023 Youth Performance Festival, which is occurring from December this year through February of 2023. It's at the North Hampton Center for the Arts and the Community Music School of Springfield. And they are asking for $1,000 to serve 250 people. We scored this at a 2.3. So there were no particular comments. It's a youth performance. It's in its fourth year. And it's a free opportunity for youth artists 8 to 18 to create original performance pieces that are the guidance of mentor artists in the fields of music, dance, theater, poetry, spoken word and video. It's a center for creative agency of young artists and is committed to supporting them as they discover their own creative processes. Over six weekends, December through February, the young artists work in small cohorts with two mentor artists in their respective fields and receive guidance and coaching to explore their fullest artistic potential. It culminates in a live performance for the greater community that occurs February 11th and 12th, North Hampton Center for the Arts. And one there and then one at the Community Music School of Springfield. We did not have any comments on this one. So I will leave this to us. Is there anyone who would like to champion this grant? For the kids, anyone? I like the mentor artists component of it. I don't know that I feel like maybe it's just them using the word mentor stuck out to me, but I liked that. I love that too. Yeah, and when you look at the ages of the artists, that it's eight to 18, it's a really rich age. It's not like this is for four year olds. These are people who are in their own right are creative and on a journey and that mentorship can last them a lifetime to make a real difference. And it's art that people are participating in. So any other comments? I mean, it's also great to just encourage a new generation. I think those are goals that like as the council, like that's an investment like the future of grantees. I think it's great. Even though it's in North Hampton, it'll probably reach artists here. Sorry, I'm hearing the echo now that I'm talking. But yeah, I think it's great. And I think it'll have, I think this specifically will be able to have a really big impact even though it might be further away. Yeah, I'd love to fully fund it. And I do think it's got a regional draw when you have mentors like that coming in and it reaches North Hampton and Springfield also. So, you know, if we have to hedge our bets, I could put it in at 50 instead of a thousand because it is a big ass. Everyone good with that number, tentatively? Any additional comments, anyone? All right, moving on to the next. Okay. The next is George Owens for the North Hampton Flute Trio Concert. Date is to be determined. Location to be determined. They prefer the bangs, but Jones Library or Amherst Historical might be possible. He's asking for $450, expects about 75 people. Our comments around this were no date, no venue, and they only applied to us. And collectively we scored this at a 1.2. So, what is this? It is a flute trio performing an hour-long concert featuring composers from Bach to Contemporary. And I'm going to just move to, since we're limited with time, is I don't believe it meets our guidelines without a date or a location. So, while it would be lovely, especially with the direct granting, is there anyone else who feels this does meet our guidelines? I agree with what you just said, Julianne. So, I also agree it doesn't meet the guidelines. Okay, so if we are all in agreement and there are no other comments, I will move on. Thank you. The next is Paperback Magazine's celebratory launch, March 25th, 2023. And it would be at the Great Room and the Old Chapel at UMass. They're asking for $2,000 and expect 75 people to attend. Paperback Magazine hosting a reading presentation of poetry prose and visual art in celebration of the publication's fourth issue. It's an interdisciplinary literary magazine with an ecological focus. They offer this annual public event in an effort to enhance community on campus and beyond and to eliminate the confluence of art and science to advance awareness of the ecological crisis and to precipitate positive change. It's published annually, both in print and digital form and it is created and curated by students, staff and faculty of UMass and the celebratory launch of issue three in the spring of last year presented indigenous poet, Santi Fraser, visual artists, Ashley Eliza Williams, activist, Emily Dropkin, among others. And this year, the poet and performance of artists, CSE Conrad will read alongside prose, writer and visual artists that are yet to be determined. So comments here were, it's a magazine launch event. So it lacks public benefit. Another person said not sure this is a community focused enough at UMass, but content's great. And another person said we should support this but should not be the only or primary supporter. So with that, is there anyone who would like to champion this grant? It is unique content. And certainly with the literary and combined with the science, it's interesting. I think, sorry, this is not a full championing but I was initially kind of like, that it was a magazine launch threw me off or put me off of it a little bit because I was kind of like, we're not supporting like the creation or the production of it or whatever. But I do think it's nice, especially that they're talking about like speakers that have come in the past, like that element of like coming together in a literary and cultural way is cool to me. But I don't know if I'm in full support of it. Yeah, just to go over the budget too. So the stipend is $1,000 for CA Conrad, 500 for a prose writer who's not named, 500 for a visual artist who's not determined. And then their technical costs for 300, 300 for flyers and 300 for, or 500 for advertising. So I think the budget is a little bit unrealistic and perhaps high. And I'd like to support it, but I'm really concerned, will the community go there and participate or will it mainly benefit students and faculty? I mean, it is, I guess open to the public, at least we can say that, but I would support it. I think if we can get around it being a magazine launch, because I think the cultural content's there, but I think it's a much smaller number. Is there anyone else who'd like to comment? Yep. Is it going to be like any past the initial launch day? Is there going to be like an existing exhibit or is this one? Yeah, well, the magazine is both printed and online, so it is ongoing there, but the red flags I see is that $2,000 of this grant would go to three people and two of them aren't known. All right, I'm just going to say, yeah. Yeah, and I think 500 in advertising is really high, especially when that doesn't include another 300 for flyers and printing and posting costs. So I think it's really hard to consider that the community benefit, giving these really high numbers and not knowing who two of the stipend recipients are. Yes. Yeah, especially with the direct granting model feels problematic. It really does. Yeah. Yes, Robin. The budget's also kind of off because they said they're going to be getting 2,000 in projected income and the budget's 3,100 and they're asking us for 2,000. So they're actually asking us more. 1,100 left in the budget that they need to fill in and they're asking us for 2,000. That's also a little Okay. How are we for time, Rachel? We have a minute and 20 seconds for this one. Is everyone comfortable with really low-balling this because of the ambiguity or perhaps going to, I'm just going to go to 500 just to see what people say, is 500 too much? I think so. I would go ahead and... Sorry, Rachel. I would go even lower. Okay, what would you go with, Eleanor? 250. I could live with 250. Is there anyone who cannot live with 250 as a show of support? You cannot live with 250. So, okay, Rachel, do you feel it just simply does not meet our guidelines? That's my personal opinion. So I'm just going to put that down there on the record. Let's be sure that we come back to this one. Okay. With that, I'd like to turn it over to Matt I believe, or your camera's on. I think you're ready to go. I am. I'll do my best here. As you guys know, I'm juggling some small ones. Am I timing you, Matt? Sorry, I'm not timing you. Okay, good. I'm timing you if you want to. Feel free. So, since we're pretty close to the full council here tonight, I wanted to just reopen the conversation around the spring block party. As you all know, Eleanor was the lead on putting together an application for us for a totally separate $2,500, oh my gosh, festivals and projects application to support this spring block party that the bid and the cultural district are also putting money into. And so that was something that we decided about two months ago at an ACC meeting that we would apply for this and apply those funds into this. The spring block party, I guess the main highlights I would say around it, call for participants in December and January. And so that would be timed with our, whether or not we put any more money into it, that would be timed with our grant award letters that we send out to the grantees, as well as the bid and the cultural district would also put out their own calls for people who are interested in participating in the spring block party. Where the fall block party shuts down Pleasant Street, this would be more focused towards Amity Street and Main Street, but a very similar model where we just try to literally get people in the streets of Amherst, put up one main stage and potentially some smaller stages depending on how things shape up, a lot of collaboration with the local business community. The good thing is the bid has done this already. So they really do know sort of the logistics to make it happen. Everybody who went last year knows that the streets are just packed and you don't see that in Amherst very often. So it was a pretty exciting event. This one would be similar to the fall except rather than sort of being local business featured, although we would still feature local business, this would really very much feature the arts and culture community in town, which I think is rich and really right to get out there and sort of be together in person again after a long hiatus. And so the ultimate, the projected budget, and I can send this application that we had Eleanor and I put together, I can send this out to everybody afterwards, but the projected budget by the bid is around 25,000 for a full kind of what they spent on the fall block party. And so that's kind of what we project here. Another nice thing about it, Juliana and I were talking about this the other day is that this is a time when, as we announce our, every year we put out a press release and kind of announce our grantees and sometimes it gets picked up, oftentimes it doesn't, but we've already kind of talked to the bid about trying to partner up our press release with a notice about this spring block party. So we can really, I think, Julia, Leah and others who put on the showcase videos really talked about how special it was to connect personally with our artists and our grantees. And I think this is almost kind of the next step in that process, which is to literally get together and it would be an invitation based participation in it. So all of our grantees will be asked if they're interested in participating, but then there would be a steering committee made up of members of the cultural council and the bid and the cultural district who sort of finalized what the lineup looked like. So of that 25,000, I think if we could, we have about 10,000, a little over 10,000 that we could at 20% reserve for local projects. So I would propose that we talk about what's realistic for us to put for this project and what we can do with it. The last thing I want to say, and then I'll kind of open it up or turn it over to Eleanor, might want to also address some of this stuff is that we have a lot of money coming back to us this year that was unexpended in the past year or two years. And so even if we, oh geez, I don't have the bottom line number in front of me right now. I'm sorry, even if we did commit 75 or the full 10,000, we would still be distributing well over our annual allotment to our grantees. So in other words, our annual allotment from the state was about 53,000. And I think we have something like Robin 67,000. Does that sound right to distribute? I think just in the interest of time, we don't get too far really nailing down the numbers right now. But did you mention Matt, how much this creates an opportunity for our grantees to have more connection and then perform and contact with the public? I think you said that showcases them. I think that's the most exciting thing about it for me is to actually sort of bring our grantees together as a group. Yes, Robin. So do we know if we got the $2,500 grant or not? Okay, so, but let's say we did. So that's another 7,500, if 10,000 was mentioned in the paper. And you just said that we're giving from the budget we now have. So before we get too far into the numbers, I'm just sorry to interrupt for anybody. Robin, sorry, Eleanor has been working on this and I'd really like to hear her perspective before we start crunching about what this means. And she might have some numbers too, I don't know if that's okay and then we'll come back to how it adds up. Well, I feel like Matt hit most of the points here. I just feel like you guys were saying I'm just so fro how important I think this will be in terms of community and community of local artists. And I feel like that's something we look at a lot with for grants, like if people are applying and how it builds community and brings people together. I just think this is such an amazing opportunity to do that. And I think the fall block party is super awesome and amazing, but I just think it would be so incredible to have such an arts-focused thing to be so interactive in that way. I know that someone has suggested that mural component. I don't know, I just, I really think it would be amazing and really impactful. Yeah, my only logistical thing that I have been thinking about is that if it's not too later possible, I would be pro-moving it maybe like a week earlier than the May 19th or something, but we can also just like talk about that later. I had just thought in terms of like, we had wanted to make it before students left and I was thinking the 19th might be pushing the later side. Yeah, I mean, timing-wise, conceptually, we don't really have community events going on in spring that way. So it's really nice to bring that forward. And yes, we want the full community and students and I don't know how much control we have over the date, but we also want good weather. And you move it to April and I think it's snowing. I've seen snow on Mother's Day, you know? So, you know, we have to hope for the best, but I love, I think the fall block party is really family and school and so forth more so. Whereas this, I think eventually it might even become a destination from or so that is not just a local community that brings people in and supports businesses and people coming from outside as well as locals. We have hands up and are you okay if you're holding Robin for me crunch numbers so that we can hear from Lea and Rachel? Say that again? Well, we'll hold the number crunching and I'll move to Lea and Rachel and come back to you. Lea? I was gonna say, I was driving through Northampton this weekend and I was seeing all of the buzz about first night and it was really making me think about that I think it's, and I saw it was sponsored by Northampton Arts Council and I think it's having something that's like, I think part of the reason first night is becoming so successful is it's like, for people who don't know it's Northampton puts on, I think it's, I think it's like the last day of December but it's like kind of family oriented so it's not real. I don't think it's like starts at one a.m. I think it starts at like seven, but it's like the first night of the new year and they do like a bunch of performances and business things and it's sponsored by the Arts Council and I think having something like every spring that's like a thing and building that momentum over years like I think having this be a recurring event would be really great. And also I know the Northampton Arts Council gets a lot of donations. I'm wondering if this would be an opportunity for us to have like a donation table and then also just like reiterating having connections with artists. I know we met with the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. I forget their title, but they talked a lot about like outreach into the community and going to events and talking with artists and talking with people and that's how you start to increase diversity. It's like these, it's just like so many conversations and so I think having this and getting to have those conversations and talking with people would be great for like networking in a way that I think just builds our community a lot. Thank you, those are all great points. Rachel Liesl, have your hand up or did Leah cover it all? I was actually just texting Robin to say please let everybody know I have a meeting right now I need to go to, so I'm sorry to leave but thank you very much Eleanor for lunch for like following this application for us. I'm sure it took a lot of your time. Well, I would just like to say thank you to Matt to really, really help my hand and help me basically through the entire thing. But thank you Rachel, I appreciate it. So I think I just wanted to, I don't know when we need to make a decision on this but I think in principle it's a great idea but I think attached to that I would ask us to consider as a council taking some of the, the percent and 20% and whatever it is that we have that we can or we may allocate to local activities taking some of that to put towards activities or initiatives that could have a more longer term impact in the sense of like having more regular occurrences or events that we, with local partners and not put it all into this one thing on the one day. Okay, so that's, so I support that but I just, I wanted to just raise the possibility of or the proposal of setting aside some of that 20% towards activities that we could do over the course of the year with partners not that we would have to do it ourselves necessarily but we would facilitate with the same objective of what you're trying to do by supporting the spring festival. So I'm really sorry but I really have to go because I have to go on an international call. So thank you. Thank you. Bye. And I'm gonna respond to Rachel while she can't hear it. Sorry, Rachel while you're going but you know, we certainly have discussed and like we tried to do Pechakucha and like that is not the only thing that could happen during the year on a more regular basis. However, I will say that it's make comes up awfully fast and as far as us executing on launching any kind of larger recurring ongoing event we have to kind of swing at the pitch of what we have here because from my experience to right now say, okay, no, we're gonna hold a portion of this back because we think we wanna do something like this the ability to execute from here in December without really being organized with it now is pretty challenging. So I take that as something to think of more for future years and that I would support conceptually trying to put the full amount behind this and just kind of blocking it out in the budget now as we go and then seeing it for some reason that's not something that we can do once we get closer to finalizing it. And as I think when I just talked with you Matt you were saying that we don't have the answer on the grant that you to the festival grant you applied for but it is quite likely that we're in good shape as a cultural council applying for it for a local festival that we're kind of their ideal candidate and that we should wait and see but be optimistic there, is that correct? Yeah, that's right, we were talking to the cultural district or MCC about a totally unrelated topic and I asked them and they really kind of laughed. I mean, I think it is sort of an entitlement grant to communities. So MCC is strongly behind us as an applicant for this, I think. So I did pull up the numbers. I know we don't wanna crunch the numbers too tightly but just so everybody knows we got, we receive our money from the state lottery every year. So we were awarded 53 eight from the state for this year and based on money that was returned or rolled over from previous years, we're actually at 71,083 for the amount available. So, if we took 7,500 out, so we could take up to 20% of that 53,800. So we could take up to, that's like 10,700. If we took 7,500 off of what we have to grant, we would still have 63,000 and change to grant. So that's 10,000 more than the state allotment was. And I realize I just shared those numbers very quickly. You can all see them in the smart and simple platform but I think my main point is just, it's true that these are funds that we would not be distributing directly to grantees directly cash in hand, but I do think that we would still be distributing well above our annual allotment and that these funds would have a really meaningful and manifest benefit to all the grantees who participated in the block party. Yeah, I'd like to add to that that these are funds that came back to us because grantees were not able to make use of them. And I think it's, perhaps very equalizing just fair to distribute them back to the entire community of both for the benefit of being at the event but also to have it as a venue to reach people as opposed to pushing it to one person or another, we can do it in a meaningful way to spread it across the community. And I think it's a great use of the funds. So are there any other? Cody, you've got your hand up. Yes. I have to go. Thank you for being here. And I hope we can get your audio internet stuff worked out. Thank you. Thank you too. Yeah, we will. Okay, anyone else? Any comments by Cody? Okay, with that, we'll wrap this up and see you. I just looked at this really, is it Wednesday? Wednesday? Yep, we'll see you at the next meeting. Okay. All right, thank you all. Can I ask a quick question? Yeah. I know we talked about, because I wasn't, sometimes I forget the rules like what you think you know about and what you can't. I was wondering, I had no, I think last meeting I was thinking about maybe writing to the MCC about including accessibility in their grant questions for next year. What would the next step for that be? Like would we create a subcommittee or do like what we vote on this or how would we move forward if that was something we wanted to do? I mean, on a really basic level, I don't think there's anything that prohibits you as a Amherst cultural council member for writing to MCC and saying, hey, if you guys consider this, you know, nobody has to vote or endorse or anything else for you to communicate up. Okay. Cause I didn't want to do that. Like if we had to vote on that or something, but I think it would be something very bad and partially the better. Matt, you're muted. Such a rookie mistake. I really appreciate that. If you would like just, you know, in terms of having a unified front to copy me in and Julian, that's usually a good sort of rule of thumb. The other person that I would say somebody, I'm sorry, I've got an echo is that the other person that I might copy when you write to Jay Wong, Jay Wong is our rep, you know, that she's been fabulous is Charles. Yeah, I would just directly include Charles and just say, hey, you know, Charles can speak to the efforts we've made and has been a great partner for us and, you know, kind of hype up his involvement because I think that's the kind of idea, you know, they're all about good ideas and that I think he could really help you champion that at their level. I agree with you. I think the bar for accessibility is really low. And we need to raise it. Excellent. On the MCC level. So I thought of that too. And yet Charles would probably be a really good person just even call him, you know, he says it steps. So, you know, he knows that. And, you know, he's great. And he has good ideas and all of that. But I agree with you, so thank you for wanting to do, you know. I think it's really powerful coming from Leia as a high school student calling it out for the entire Commonwealth, I think it's fantastic. So, yeah, appreciate it. And we're here to help you with that. Don't feel like you're alone, but also just want to be clear that, you know, we're all free to just to communicate. So great idea. With that, are we, when we are done, we can conclude. I will stop the recording. Very good. Great session tonight, everyone. Thank you. Bye. Thanks everybody. Bye.